Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon (60 ml) oil or ghee
- 1 (110 g) medium onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 3 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 whole black cardamoms
- 1 medium stick cinnamon
- 2-3 whole green chilies optional
- 3 cups (500 g) cooked chickpeas (drained weight)
- 2 cups (400 g) basmati rice (washed and soaked in water for at least 30 minutes)
- 3 cups/750ml water (IMPORTANT: please read notes if you are changing the serving size)
Instructions
- In a deep pot, heat the oil and add the sliced onions. Fry till the onions become golden - about 10 minutes..
- Add all the spices, salt and green chillies if using. Fry these for a few more minutes, until the onions become a dark gold.
- Add the rice, chickpeas and water, and bring to a boil. If you have adjusted the serving size, please refer to the notes for how much water you'll need to add.
- Cook the rice and chickpeas on high heat, gently stirring once or twice (but not breaking any rice!) until most of the water has dried out - about 8 minutes.
- Once the water has dried out, secure a tight fitting lid onto the pot and turn the heat down to the lowest setting, to steam for 10-15 minutes. You can wrap the lid in a clean tea towel, so it absorbs more steam, leading to fluffier and rice.
- Gently fluff up the rice using a slotted spoon or a fork immediately after steaming, even if you do not intend to serve it immediately
Notes
- If you are adjusting the serving size: the amount of water you use will be: 0.5x = 2 cups/500ml water, 1x = 3 cups/750ml, 2x = 5 cups/1.2l water, 3x = 7 cups/1.65l water.
- The green chillies in this recipe are added whole and do not infuse heat into the recipe, they are more for fragrance. If you'd like your pilau to have some heat/spice then I would recommend chopping the green chillies before adding them
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